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Design and Manufacture of Swell Packers: Influence of

Material Behavior
a a a a
S. Z. Qamar , T. Pervez , M. Akhtar & M. S. M. Al-Kharusi
a
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Sultan
Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman
Accepted author version posted online: 30 Apr 2012.Version of record first published: 24 May
2012.

To cite this article: S. Z. Qamar , T. Pervez , M. Akhtar & M. S. M. Al-Kharusi (2012): Design and Manufacture of Swell
Packers: Influence of Material Behavior, Materials and Manufacturing Processes, 27:7, 721-726

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 Materials and Manufacturing Processes, 27: 721726, 2012
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ISSN: 1042-6914 print=1532-2475 online
DOI: 10.1080/10426914.2011.647999

Design and Manufacture of Swell Packers:

Inuence of Material Behavior
S. Z. Qamar, T. Pervez, M. Akhtar, and M. S. M. Al-Kharusi

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering,

Sultan Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman

In all well completions (oil and gas elds), effective cement job is necessary for zonal isolation. Failure of cement annulus because of large
stresses has been reported in various studies, requiring huge costs in remedial intervention. Swellable packers have emerged as a new manu-
facturing equipment/technique able to replace conventional cement completion. These packers are custom-manufactured by vulcanizing
specially developed swelling elastomer elements onto petroleum pipes. Especially designed and manufactured to suit a particular set of down-
hole conditions, swell packers are being used in a variety of petroleum applications such as zonal isolation and water shutoff in fractured
Downloaded by [Sultan Qaboos University] at 00:06 15 January 2013

reservoirs, slimming down of oil wells through replacement of conventional cementing, sand screening, reservoir compartmentalization, etc.
Performance analysis and seal design improvement is not possible without reliable information about material response of swelling
elastomers. This article summarizes the results of a series of tests performed to determine the swelling behavior of a water-swelling and an
oil-swelling elastomer, with and without acid induction. Experimental setup was designed in consultation with petroleum and rubber
engineers. Volume, thickness, and hardness of elastomer samples were measured before swelling and periodically after swelling over a
one-month period. Test conditions were chosen to replicate actual oileld conditions.

Keywords Acid induction; Design; Elastomer; Hardness; Manufacture; Oil-swelling; Swell-packer; Thickness; Volume; Water-swelling.

INTRODUCTION Successful applications of swelling elastomer seals

Elastomers are rubber-like materials made from
synthetic polymers [1]. Swelling elastomers exhibit a
dynamic change in volume and thickness when exposed
to a swelling medium such as water or oil [1]. Swell pack-
ers, also known as swellable element packers or reactive
element packers, are constructed of base pipe similar to
the completion tubing in oil wells; see Fig. 1 [1]. Manu-
facturing of these packers is on a custom-build basis
to suit a certain well completion strategy. Application-
specic elastomer is molded, thermally cured, and glued
(vulcanized) to the base pipe. Back-up (anti-extrusion)
rings are integrated into the design in certain cases to
keep the elastomer element in place [2]. Production from
many oil and gas elds drastically decreases due to
problems such as formation damage, water incursion,
etc. Many mature wells are abandoned after serious pro-
duction declines, as the difculties and cost of rework are
signicant. Advanced polymer applications known as
swelling elastomer packers (SEPs) have successfully put
many abandoned wells back into production, through
strategies such as workovers, sidetracks, and redrills [3].
SEPs can be deployed to segment horizontal wells,
thereby shutting off unwanted water and gas, and can
thus increase recovery from mature reservoirs [4].
Received November 14, 2011; Accepted November 27, 2011
Address correspondence to S. Z. Qamar, Department of
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering,
Sultan Qaboos University, P.O. Box 33, Al Khodh 123, Sultanate
of Oman; E-mail: sayyad@squ.edu.om
include cementless completions [5], well completion
together with cement jobs [6], zonal isolation in openhole
completion of foam-drilled horizontal wells [7], etc.
Success of an elastomer-based eld application depends
on various factors: selection of swell packers that are
appropriate for a given set of eld conditions; improve-
ment of sealing design and manufacture; assessment of
seal integrity; etc. None of these tasks can be carried out
without a reasonably accurate knowledge of material
response of the elastomer under given conditions and at
various stages of swelling. Kubena et al. [8] investigated
how different drilling uids affect the performance charac-
teristics of certain types of elastomers used in drilling
equipment. Al-Yami et al. [9, 10] studied the resistance
of water-swelling and oil-swelling elastomer seals to differ-
ential pressures at a given temperature. Material response
(volume and thickness swelling, compression set, tensile
set, etc.) of an EPDM-type (ethylene propylene diene
monomer; M-class rubber) water-swelling elastomer was
studied earlier by the authors [11, 12]. Ertekin and Sridhar
[13] reviewed the performance and compatibility of some
elastomeric materials to gasoline mixtures containing vari-
ous concentrations of hydrocarbons. Results summarized
in this article are based on a study conducted for material
testing and characterization of two high-performance
candidate elastomers (one water-swelling and one oil-
swelling) used in swell packers in petroleum drilling
operations, with and without acid (15% HCl) induction.
Test temperature, brine concentrations, acid strength,
and oil samples were selected in line with actual eld
conditions.

721
 722
FIGURE 1.Typical construction of a swell-packer [1].
EXPERIMENTAL WORK
Elastomer Samples
To test for free swelling, disc samples were used (34 mm
diameter, 6 mm thickness). Plate samples were used to
replicate actual seal behavior (elastomer mounted on
pipe); 30 mm thick elastomer mounted on roughly
50  50 mm steel plates (metal thickness of 3 mm).
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Experiment Plan
Testing was done to determine the amount of volume
swelling, thickness swelling, and hardness change against
swelling time for two types of sample geometries (disc
and plate) for the two elastomer materials. Brine solu-
tions of 35,000 ppm (3.5%) and 85,000 ppm (8.5%) con-
centration were used for the water-swelling elastomer.
Crude oil was used for the oil-swelling elastomer. Test
temperature was 60 C. Acid testing in 15% HCl solution
was carried out for one day, after three days of water=oil
testing, then back to water=oil swelling. Readings were
taken before swelling, and after 1, 3, 7, 15, and 31 days
of swelling. One set of samples was tested without acid,
while the other sample set was tested with one day of acid
exposure after the third day, both for water-swelling and
oil-swelling elastomers.
Swelling Medium
For testing of water-swelling elastomer, distilled water
was rst processed in large quantities and stored. Salt
solutions of 35,000 ppm and 85,000 ppm concentration
were prepared in enough quantities to last for the
one-month testing (with change of brine in each jar after
every reading). Crude oil for testing of oil-swelling elas-
tomer was taken from the actual oil well. HCl solution
(15%) was prepared for one-day acid-exposure after
three days of swelling in water or oil.
Experimental Setup
Samples were placed in sealable glass jars containing
the proper swelling medium (brine, oil, acid) and ident-
ied by mnemonic code names. Jars were placed inside
servo-controlled ovens maintained at 60 C temperature
throughout the 31-day test period. Because of the toxic
nature of the crude oil, special care had to be taken in
handling and ventilating the test area. Volume measure-
ments were done by a specially constructed (in-house)
graduated beaker-cylinder arrangement based on the
displacement method. Thickness measurements were
S. Z. QAMAR ET AL.
carried out using digital Vernier callipers. Hardness
readings were taken using a scale-A durometer.
Both plate and disc samples were tested for volume,
thickness, and hardness change. After measurements,
plates and discs were put back into the respective solu-
tions or oil. Readings were average of measurements from
three samples. For hardness and thickness, the average of
three readings was taken from one sample, and then
measurements were averaged out from three samples.
It has been standard practice in previous tests that
samples are not placed back into the swelling medium
after hardness measurements. Small puncture marks
are created on the sample surface by the durometer
indenter, and this may slightly affect further swelling of
the sample. This of course requires a very large number
of samples, because they have to be discarded after each
hardness reading. For this study, the rubber company
decided to reduce the number of samples, and all samples
were re-used after hardness punctures. Some of the swell-
ing results may, therefore, not follow expected patterns in
this study.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
As mentioned above, the aim of this study was to
observe changes in volume, thickness, and hardness in
the elastomer samples against time (number of days)
as swelling progressed in the different brine solutions
and oil, with and without acid exposure.
Swelling of disc samples only serves as a reference for
comparison: how would the elastomer behave if it were
free to swell in all directions. In contrast, plate samples
represent the more realistic case when the elastomer on
the plate side is restricted to swell, just as elastomer
mounted on a pipe would behave in a swell packer. Also,
volume swelling values are reported only as a reference;
in reality, thickness change (due to swelling) is the actual
parameter of interest as it would indicate the amount
and strength of sealing between the packer and the cas-
ing, or the packer and the formation. The most important
results are, therefore, thickness swelling values for plate
samples.
Average readings for volume change, thickness
change, and hardness at day numbers zero, 1, 3, 4, 7,
15, and 31 were carefully recorded and tabulated.
Day-4 readings are only for those sample sets that were
exposed to acid during the fourth day. Only a few
representative graphs are shown below for explanation
of material behavior.
Volume Change
Water-swelling elastomer. Figure 2 shows the change
in volume of plate samples against number of days of
swelling in 85,000 ppm (8.5%) brine solution, with and
without acid exposure. As expected, swelling in lower-
concentration salt-solution is higher than in higher-
concentration brine. The effect of acid exposure is not
so clear-cut; swelling slows down during day-4 (when salt
solution was replaced by acid) but then picks up again
when elastomer is put back into the salt-water solution.
 DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE OF SWELL PACKERS
FIGURE 2.Volume change of plate samples against time in 8.5% brine solution, with and without acid.
Total acid-affected volume swelling at the end of the
one-month period is higher in 3.5% solution and lower
in 8.5% solution.
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Oil-swelling elastomer. For the oil-swelling elasto-
mer, volume change with time for disc samples is shown
in Fig. 3. The denite (and satisfactory) conclusion is that
samples keep on swelling even after the one-day acid
exposure; otherwise, the inconsistent trends continue.
Total volume swelling after acid introduction is signi-
cantly lower for disc samples, while for plate samples it
is the same with and without acid induction.
Thickness Change
Water-swelling elastomer. Figure 4 shows thickness
change in plate samples against swelling time (number
of days) in 3.5% salt solution, with and without the
one-day acid exposure. As expected, thickness swelling
is higher for lower salt concentration. Total thickness
change after acid induction is higher in both 3.5% and
8.5% solutions for disc samples. However, it goes back
to the up-and-down behavior for plate samples. Swelling
increases more rapidly after the one-day acid exposure
for both disc and plate samples.
Oil-swelling elastomer. For the oil-swelling elasto-
mer, thickness change with time for plate samples is
shown in Fig. 5. Total thickness swelling for plate sam-
ples is almost the same with and without acid (about
19%), while it is different for disc samples (35% without
FIGURE 3.Volume change of disc samples against time in oil, with and without acid exposure.
723
acid; 41% with acid). Once again, thickness swelling
increases more rapidly after the one-day acid exposure.
Comparison: disc and plate samples. Swelling
amount for disc samples is far higher than for plate
samples in all cases; for instance, 850% volume swelling
for disc samples against 132% for plate samples in
35,000 ppm salt solution; 370% volume swelling for disc
samples against 63% for plate samples in oil without
acid exposure. This is very much in line with standard
behavior. Pate samples are restricted to swell from one
major side, while disc samples are free to swell in all
directions. Disc samples therefore show higher swelling
percentage than plate samples.
Comparison: water and oil-swelling elastomers.
Amount of swelling in the case of water-swelling elasto-
mer is considerably more than for oil-swelling elastomer
(thickness swelling of 82% in 35000 ppm saline water
and only 35% in oil for disc samples, and 35% in water
and only 19% in oil for plate samples). This should pro-
vide an important guideline for eld engineers: Annulus
between swell-packer and casing for oil-based elastomers
should be signicantly smaller than for water-based elas-
tomers if a proper amount of sealing pressure is desired.
Hardness Change
Water-swelling elastomer. Figure 6 summarizes the
change in hardness for disc samples as they swell in
3.5% salt solution, with and without acid induction.
 724 S. Z. QAMAR ET AL.

FIGURE 4.Thickness change of plate samples against time in 3.5% brine solution, with and without acid.
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FIGURE 5.Thickness change of plate samples against time in oil, with and without acid exposure.

Hardness of the original elastomer samples (before
swelling) on the Shore-A scale was around 73. It is inter-
esting to observe that within a day or two of swelling,
hardness drastically drops down to below 40, and then
changes very little with further swelling. Also, interest-
ingly, nal hardness is almost the same with and without
acid induction.
Oil-swelling elastomer. Hardness change for disc and
plate samples of oil-swelling elastomer is shown in Fig. 7.
Original hardness was about 65 on the Shore-A scale. In
this case (oil-based elastomer), it takes longer for hardness
to drop down signicantly (from three to seven days of
swelling). Final hardness of plate samples is about 33 (with
acid) and 36 (without acid), while it is almost the same (41)
for disc samples with and without acid induction.
A note about hardness change. We can see that the
water-swelling elastomer is originally harder (74
Shore-A) than the oil-swelling elastomer (65 Shore-A).
It is interesting to note, however, that after the 30-day
swelling period, hardness drops down in the range of
3540 in both cases. The main question is what happens
to seals formed by these relatively soft swollen elastomers
if subjected to high pressure differentials over extended
periods of time. Without actual long-duration tests
(several years) under varying conditions of temperature,
pressure, and swelling medium (saline water, oil, acid),
any estimate of seal life would be just an estimate. An
experimental rig for ve-year long testing of different
water and oil-swelling elastomers under varying eld
conditions has been designed and constructed by the
authors for this purpose, and testing is underway.

FIGURE 6.Hardness change of disc samples against time in 3.5% salt solution, with and without acid.
 DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE OF SWELL PACKERS
FIGURE 7.Hardness change of disc samples against time in oil, with and without acid exposure.
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FIGURE 8.Hardness change of plate samples against time in oil, with and without acid exposure.
CONCLUSIONS
Investigation of material response for improvement of
design and manufacture of swell packers has been carried
out. Experiments were designed, planned, and conducted
for determination of volume, thickness, and hardness
change against swelling time in 35,000 ppm and
85,000 ppm salt solutions and crude oil at a temperature
of 60 C. For one set of samples of both materials, after
three days of swelling, the medium (saline water or oil)
was replaced with 15% HCl solution for one day, and
then back to the original medium. Total testing time
was 31 days, and measurements were recorded at day
numbers zero, 1, 3, 4, 7, 15, and 31. All reported results
are averages of three readings.
Swelling in lower concentration brine is higher than in
high-concentration salt solution. Transport of salt
solution into the elastomer (which causes swelling) is
obviously lower for denser solutions, giving rise to this
trend. Volume and thickness swelling of disc samples is
much larger than that of plate samples, both for
water-swelling and oil-swelling elastomers. Elastomer
on plate samples is bonded on one major surface, while
disc samples are free to swell on all sides; thus this differ-
ence. Swelling rate drops down during the one-day acid
exposure, then picks up again when samples are put back
into brine or oil. Hardness of both elastomers drops
down sharply in the rst few days of swelling, then
remains almost constant on further swelling. These
results can be used by eld engineers as qualication tests
for proper selection of swell packers for specic oileld
conditions. The results can also be used for renement
of swell packer design and manufacturing process.
725
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